Veiled Setup Critique

[WilcoxAE]

Howdy everyone,

Been a lurker. Got some tranny veileds and have been in the process of trying to mellow them out and get them comfy in their new home...semi-permanent home. (Plan to build a bigger enclosure for them in a few months...)

That being said, I am kinda curious as to what everyone thinks of my lighting situation.

The enclosure is pretty large, 48x48x24 for two small veileds that are quickly growing, which is fabulous. A male and female that were used to being housed together so they are ok with one another. I initially had just 1 10UVB, to have enough to reach further down in the enclosure, and one of those cra* "Plant and Aquarium" lights.

The chameleons seemed alright but the umbrella plant was quickly losing it's leaves and was indicating to me that something was awry. I gutted the built in 2 tube fluorescent fixture, apartments in NYC eh, and added a 4 tube fluorescent fixture. In THAT I put those 2 same bulbs in but added 2 4600K full spectrum tubes in. So they have a 10UVB, a Plant & Aquarium, and 2 4600K full spectrum bulbs.

Opinion? Good bad sorta ok?

Here is their setup and you can see Pinky, the girl, on her pre-bed workout (walk around the screen). ^.^

 

[kinyonga]

How old are the chameleon's?

 

[xephyr17]

Seems pretty much alright to me. You'll want to get a taller enclosure in the future...

Maybe I misunderstood--but are you housing these two together? Not the best idea.

 

[carol5208]

Seems pretty much alright to me. You'll want to get a taller enclosure in the future...

Maybe I misunderstood--but are you housing these two together? Not the best idea.

The cage is 4 foot tall...so how much taller is she supposed to go?. That is the standard size cage for an adult Veild. And yes housing them together if they are around 3 months old is not a good idea at all. I would set up a divider in the middle of the cage and give them each their own space. A divider where they cannot see each other. Do you have a basking bulb? If not, you need to get one. What are the two full spectrum bulbs for??

 

[WilcoxAE]

Howdy. Thanks for the responses!

kinyonga - they are about 5 months old now.

xephyr17 , carol5208 - I was going to eventually move them onto a 48 x 36 x 76 'open concept' enclosure in the future and wanted to observe their psychology in such a environment. Referring to R.D. Bartlett, he housed females with his males without a problem? Why would ya'll suggest otherwise? Not arguing, just curious. Or is to build...suspense...sexual tension. I might actually turn my bathroom into a giant free roam...stays humid...

The full spectrum bulbs are largely for the plants as they were showing signs of stress. The full spectrum shouldn't harm the veileds, no?

And they do have a "basking bulb". Forgot to mention that. Although the cage itself averages around 84 F with 56-72 percent humidity depending on weather conditions.

 

[carol5208]

Housing males and females together is a bad idea due to the breeding. Males with males is a no no also as they will fight. In rare instances males with males with get along, but it is not the norm. Rule is one cage for each chameleon, male or female. Are you aware the female can lay eggs without being bred? They will be infertile, but you have to deal with it just the same as the eggs will need to be laid. The female will not always be receptive to breeding and that can end up killing her from the male bothering her to breed. They should only be put together to breed and then be separated. In the wild, they have the option of running away from the male. Here you are forcing them to be together. I do not know anything about the full spectrum bulbs, so will not comment. Most of us use one basking bulb, one uvb light and a grow light for plants if you have live ones. This set up has been proven successful for years and years. 84 degrees is warm for an ambient temp. The suggested temps are to have the ambient in the 70's and the basking in the 80's.